>> you do not here in washington, but you do in communities. i really think it is the essence of our country that we work community-by-community. as a speaker out here, has done anthropologist from great britain said, and our communities, the conversation as incessant about civic institutions, about churches and clubs and fire departments and organizations. that is a very distinguishing aspect of what we do and what we can do from here to create an environment in which that can succeed, which is limited government. >> this is also limited to the american principle of this version of power versus the

european principle of concentration of power. it does not just the state versus the federal government. it is private philanthropic power as well as civic institutions in the community. >> senator alexander, you talked earlier -- you were trying to steal this away from the debate about left and right. it is important or essential to the distinction of americans. the importance of the cyclical "ill institutions -- will institutions. the fact that we exceed it play

out in europe in that way, an empirical example, a does not a theoretical argument, aid debate -- a debate and what makes you need exceptional and so valuable has to included debate over the size and reach and scope of government because of its effect on these civic institutions which are so fundamental. >> yes. but i think that works out in our politics is that we have these principles, such as limited government and liberty stacked up on one side and someone might step up equal opportunity on the other side can make an argument within an american context to say that the government adds this program to create equal opportunities so that these people can get to the starting line. someone may be on the right side

and someone may be on the left side with a larger program based on equal opportunity. but i think both americans are debating arguments based on american principles. >> i agree. instead of arguing the mechanism you wouldrsonal left, can yo undermine the basic idea of political government is that, if you did that, that would undermine the entire idea of americanism. >> i precisely agree with that. that is precisely the way to have a political debate. i was trying to recognize the americanism of his argument. my emphasis would be on the two other principals. >> is not a mess -- is not a -- it is not the message of motive, but of consequence. >> at the very beginning, amy

described the amide of american is of being philosophy and poetry. remarkably enough, we get the philosophy in common, but we're not sure about the poetry. the phenomenon that you're talking about, with hyphenated names, his a sign that people see the poetry of their lives in those ethnic or religious attachments. so i am wondering where that poetry would come from. it seems to me that to strings or three things were laid out by the panel -- to build things are three things were laid up by the panel. we come from something that essentially would be our poetry, something that would have to unite all of us as americans.

as harvey suggested, some is selling ourselves to other. that could be a common purpose. ron williams suggested somehow a common purpose is aspirational or, to use charles's turn, a dream. what has been poetic about this is this aspiration to do best for ourselves, to improve ourselves, to live up to certain ideals and, sometimes, especially with someone like roosevelt, to take that to the world. my question is really what the panel thinks about the possibilities of those things as the source of poetry but also how they would work together. one is in working and one is out

looking. looking and onerinward- is outward-looking. >> you can take the idea of a city upon a hill. since the dawn of a chin athens bridges since ancient athens, -- since the ancient athens, they have been building a model paired with a degree would agree that we have a good one. the congress of vienna -- the world has a terrible tendency, the world of nations has a terrible tendency to try to implode from time to time and disintegrate. when that happens, it is a

veritable that horrifying situation. it is america's interest, i think, not to have nations elsewhere disintegrating and imploding as, indeed, they are in parts of the world now. we have an outward moving interest in maintaining the american model for those who would like to imitate it. i think arias right. we should make an effort to sell it. -- i think arthur is right. we should make an effort to sell it. that does not mean lock, stock, and barrel. but it means things like what is being discussed here. they work. there are nations who are struggling to organize themselves. there are things here that work and poetry as a place and that. >> i would just add one more source for that poetry. that is lincoln and everything

lincoln said and wrote. in lincoln, what we really get is that philosophy made public. it combines both of the two elements, the aspirational relevant and the new birth of freedom. then when you secure the new birth of freedom, then we do stand as a force for the world. what we have today is a need to get back to that, to lincoln's task of the perpetration of our political institutions and to figure of in which ways we have departed from those institutions that might be vilified and destroyed. first of all, i will say to ourselves to be in good -- [laughter] i think that one part -- i am a little suspicious of national purpose in this discussion. but one element of to be the notion of frontier. this is one element of

roosevelt that i think is enduring and timeless. i would be very critical in many ways, but he was a friend of turners and was very -- they were mutually influential. let me put it this way. it is very interesting that, in europe, the word frontier is a- term. in america, it is a positive term -- in europe, the word frontier is a negative term. in america, it has a positive term. it has something to do with possibility of the individual person, recognizing their individual possibility, irrespective of their conditions of their birth. maybe people have to put in a phrase -- equality of

opportunity rather than equality of result. that notion of the frontier and its analog -- it is not for nothing that politicians repeatedly have tried to revive the notion of frontier, and most notably john f. kennedy, the idea of space travel in french hearing. frontiering.hearin >> in closing, let me say that, first of all, poetry is stories and songs that we have included in this volume. more importantly, i want to thank the panelists. how want to thank the bradley foundation. and i want to thank you all for coming. [applause] >> in his weekly address, president obama talks about

rising gas prices and is planned to expand oil production that includes new leases in alaska and the gulf of mexico. he also calls for an end to taxpayer subsidies for oil companies. then an address by martha of ruby also comment on expanding oil production to help rising gas prices and other economic challenges. >> recently, there have been signs that the economy is picking up steam. last month, we saw the strongest job growth in five years. we have added more than three- quarters of a million private- sector jobs in just three months. but there are still too many americans who are either looking for work or are struggling to pay the bills and make the mortgage. paychecks are not getting any bigger. but the cost of everything from groceries to college tuition keeps on rising. without a doubt, one of the biggest burdens of the past few months has been the price of gasoline. in many places, gas is now more

than $4 per gallon. that means that you could be paying more than $60 to fill up your tank. these spikes in gas prices are often temporary. while there are no fixes to that problem, there are a few steps we can take. first, we should make sure that no one is taking advantage of consumers at the pump. that is why we have lost a task force, led by the attorney general, that has one job -- ridding of cases of fraud or manipulation in the market that might affect gas prices, including illegal activities by speculators. second, we should increase safe and responsible oil production here at home. last year, america's oil production reached the highest level since 2003. but i believe we should continue to expand oil production in america, even as we increase safety and environmental standards. to do this, i'm directing the department of interior to conduct annual lease sales in alaska and a patrol in reserve while respecting sensitive

areas and to speed up the evolution of oil and gas resources in the mid- and south- atlantic. we will work to create new incentives for the industry to develop both new -- develop new leases both on and off shore. my administration is extending drilling leases in the gulf that were infected by the moratorium, including areas close to alaska. to streamline that permitting process, i am in establishing a new team. finally, the third step we should take is to eliminate the taxpayer subsidies -- to oil and gas companies. in the last few months, the biggest oil companies made about $4 billion in profits each week. yet they get $4 billion in taxpayer subsidies each year. $4 billion in a time when

americans barely filled their tanks, $4 billion at a time when we're trying to reduce our deficit. this is not fair. it makes no sense. before i was president, the ceo's of these companies admitted that these tax subsidies made no sense. next week, there is a vote in congress to end these oil company giveaways once and for all. i hope democrats and republicans come together to get this done. the american people should not be subsidizing oil companies at a time when they're making near- record profits. as a nation, we should be investing in to clean and renewable sources of energy that will be the solution to high gas prices. that is why we are investing in clean energy technology, hoping to manufacture solar panels and wind turbines, and making sure their cars and trucks can go further on a tank of gas. it is a step that could save families as much as $3,000 at the pump. these are investments worth making. these are investments that will save us money, reduce our

dependence on foreign oil. this is what i will be fighting for in the weeks and months to come. thank you. >> hello, it is a great honor to speak to you today about the challenges our country faces. not only as a represente of alabama, but also as a mother, i cannot begin to tell you how many times i have gone to the grocery store and found myself in a conversation about the price of gas, the cost of one to the doctor, or about how hard it is to get business going and keep jobs in our area. the sad conclusion is that these conversations -- of these conversations is that washington is part of the problem. it is failing to promote policies that will put our economy to a path of prosperity. the price of gas is a good example. year after year, politicians in

washington talk about steps to ease the pain at the pump. but they never act. it hit home this spring when the president promoted brazilian- made energy in brazil while his administration kept our resources here at home under lock and key. i am pleased to report that the house has passed several measures to expand domestic energy production, to help with soaring gas prices. this is also important because we're talking about energy. we're talking about jobs. the cost of energy is directly related to the cost of hiring workers and running a business. the cost of government is also hurting our economy. washington's failure to enact policies that promote long-term economic growth and balance the budget is creating uncertainty for employers and consumers alike. for years, washington has kicked the can down the road without facing up to its spending addiction. not anymore. the big spenders have been put

on notice and are calling a retreat. the american people reject the idea of giving washington a blank check to increase the debt limit. the house is listening. republicans have made clear that there will be no increase in the national debt limit unless it is accompanied by significant spending reforms that truly change the culture of spending in washington. to get there, everything should be on the table, everything. that is, except, tax increases. we cannot tax the same people we expect to create jobs. that is a recipe for keeping people out of work. the threat of tax hikes along with the torrent of rules and regulations coming out of washington have employers sitting on their hands at the worst possible time. the republican budget put forward by chairman paul ryan ends the threat of tax hikes. it also instills -- it also --

if you do nothing, medicare will run out of money. without action, seniors benefits will be cut. under chairman ryan's plan, seniors 55 and older would not be affected in any way. that is an important point. for those of us under 55, we must take steps to ensure medicare will still be around when we retire. it is time for washington to get serious about the challenges that face our country. this includes putting our fiscal house in order and addressing the soaring gas prices. the greatest threat to our economy, job creation, and the future of our children is to do nothing. we have to act. it was what we were sent to washington to do. finally, i would like to take a moment to thank all americans for the overwhelming support and especially the purse to have sent to the people in alabama in the wake of last night's -- especially the prayers you have

sent to the people in alabama in the wake of last night's flooding. it is heartbreaking to see our friends and neighbors face tough times. as always, the people of our state are coming together to lend a helping hand to do what needs to be done. i am proud to represent people who care so deeply about listening to these. their perseverance and strength only means more as their representative in congress. and will not let this critical moment pass without acting to ensure the american dream is alive and well for our children and grandchildren if everyone in washington felt the same way, we could accomplish a great deal more. thank you for listening. >> next, john boehner commencement address at catholic university followed by first lady michelle obama at the university of northern iowa. after that, a discussion on how americanism fits in today's culture. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2011]

>> former speaker of the house newt gingrich newly announced republican presidential candidate speaks to a party gathering in macon, georgia. you can watch his speech on "road to the white house" tomorrow at 6:30 p.m. eastern and pacific on c-span. [applause] >> next, house speaker john boehner delivers the commencement address at catholic in a grocery. he also received an honorary doctor of laws degree. prior to this address, a letter was spent to speaker boehner from the university and other scholars were critical about the house republican budget that includes cuts to social services. his remarks are about 15 minutes. by the power invested in me, i congratulations, mr. speaker. [applause] board of trustees. er. [applause]

[cheers and applause] >> president, thank you for that warm welcome. i do not know about you, but i began my day today by counting my blessings. my wife, my two daughters my 11 brothers and sisters, the great country we live in. also, the privilege to have given me in allowing me to address the catholic university class of 2011. this university has stood over

the years and stands today at the center of catholic intellectual life in america. i am a lal alumni of xavier university, another great catholic university, but being here today with your new president, the cardinal, and the distinguished faculty and trustees, let me say how impressed i am with the continued growth and success of this institution and i am truly humbled to take part in this ceremony today. it has a long time since the cardinal came to washington, as the archbishop. i was very proud when he became one of the brand new cardinals. for those of you who may have gotten wet while you were waiting, you should know something about the cardal. the red cape is a custom-made raincoat of the approiate

color. you only tease the one s you love. -- ones you love. i was here having mass, and pondering the power and glory of the blessed mother. i felt the tongue of a memory before i went to xavier. the coach made certain that we earned every bit of the school nickname, the crusaders. there is no difference between church and the football field. he would tell us at certain times, that life is a precious gift from god, and making the most of one's life is a direct

form of devotion to the virgin mary. we would kneel down and pray before every meeting. before every practice and on game day, we would pray all along. then we would go out and play the other team all in the name of the blessed mother. this gives you an idea of what kind of guy that he was. this was the basis for a lesson that he taught us, and one i have been repeating ever since. there is nothing in this slide you cannot achieve if you are willing to make the necessary sacrific to succeed. i believe that if you maintain this mindset, you can accomplish ything.

we live in america. a land of hope and opportunity and freedom. [applause] this is a country where you can be anything that you want. this is an advantage that any of you would have. this is prepared you in a way that no other institution can prepare you. we have been getting it to grapple with who you want to be rather than what. you have been challenged to think rationally, to guide your words and actions. let me tell you, there is no app for these skills. to whom much is given, much is expected.

you must make the necessary sacrifices to succeed. but what does this entail? first, i think that this is humility. if you remember one word that that i have said that, this is, humility. growing up with 11 brothers and sisters, i have learned that no one succeeds in life by themselves. he must be willing to lean on others, to listen to others and toove others. tony snow, the former white house press secretary lost his life to cancer. he stood here in 2007 and he told the class -- love this. knowledge that life is not about you. he said, i want for you to remember this. this is a hard lesson and a lot

of people go through life without learning this. this is to submit willingly to the things that matter. i think his wisdom is timeless. one of the students asked me prepared question a couple of weeks ago. he asked me, what prayer you see before you go to a meeting at the white use with t president? i asked god for the courage and wisdom to do his will and not mine. serving others is not just how high lead in congress until i leave my life. you also need some patients along the way. this is not a word you associate with this, but this is

how you come closer to knowing the will of god. after xavier, i was operating a small business that got mmore involved in my community and i stumbled into politics. this is not something i thought i would do when i was sitting where you are today. this is who you want to be that determines what you want to be. i came to congress in 1991 and found myself being called a rising star. it was heavy stuff. but then in the fall of 1998, i lost the support of my colleagues and i lost my post of leadership. i would love to tell you that i just moved on, but it would not

be true. the truth is that i was devastated. i was down but never out. because nobody ever lives the life all the way up except bullfighters. i told my staff that we were going to earn the way back. i would like this speak for itself and i was going to be patient. emily and patients are supported by faith. in your journey through life, this will be your constant partner if you let it be. i have bn back in the leadership of my party for five years now. like any commitment, this required some soul-searching. in the morning of the leadership election, i have the opportunity

to be elected majority leader. the question kept coming to me, where really want to do this. am i ready to do this? i am struggling with this. dismasting the blessed mother for guidance, finding no answers. the having breakfast, myself on writing. i was outside the steiner. this was the old coach. he was calling to wish me luck and telling me that i could do it. i never got a -- call from the blessed mother. i will tell you, this was very close.

the journalist asked mother teresa how she dealt with all the things that she had seen. she said, but did not comment to be successful, he called for me to be faithful. over the years, i carried a similar code that my parents taught me. if you do the right things for the right reasons, but things will happen. humility, patience, and faith. that always a few tears from me. these virtues will take u.s. for as you want to go. and these are some of life's lessons. you have to learn if you on your

own. when you do, do not wait to share them. the years go by quickly. looking back on life, for a court said that if he could travel back to when he was 20, he would take himself out for pint, the potato, and a stake. he went on to say that he would give himself a good talking to. straight up, stop mumbling. i will only add, just relax, and be on time. i began here by reflecting on my blessings for all the things i am thankful for. but you may notice something about the list. the good things in life are not things. they are people and values, so

that when this is all said and done, we're doing god's work on earth, and putting this the best way, rember, you are dust, and your dust -- and to dust you will return. god bless you and good luck, and congratulations to each and everyone of you. >> first lady michelle obama is also serving as commencement speaker this year.

her dress was given to the graduating class at the university of northern ireland. this is 25 minutes. -- northern iowa. this is 25 minutes. before i get started, wanted to let you know that, if my remarks run a little long, a promise we will take a break, crank up the music for the interlude dance. [cheers and applause] i have been practicing the robot ninja moves to get it right. [laughter]

i want to thank president alan for that wonderful introduction and for the executive vice president and provost, the border regions, president david miles, all of the members of order of regents, and, of kerrs, katie berg for her beautiful speech. let's give them all hand. [applause] finally, i want to say special thank you to everyone here in , especially all of you who have changed your

plans so that we could celebrate our graduates altogether. thank you all. [applause] as many of you know, this is not my first time here in iowa. in fact, it feels like to have spent more time in this state than anywhere besides my home state of illinois and, of course, washington, d.c. my family was here a lot back in 2007, long enough for my husband to have a sculpture of his head made out of butter -- yes. [laughter] but, while the campaign is would initially brought me to iowa, what brings me back today is something so much bigger, much deeper, so much more personal to me. believe it or not, this state and the people that i have met here and the things that i have

learned here have all become a very important part of my own personal journey. a half to it meant that, back when i first heard it coming here, i was pretty nervous. most barely knew who my husband was, let alone why was. i was still a bit uneasy about the whole president thing, as used to callleamalia it. i did not know how run would affect our family for our girls. i had never been to iowa before and i had no idea how folks would react to a perfect stranger waltzing into their kitchens and their living rooms. i did not know what to expect. but soon you all showed me exactly what makes iowa such a special place. i will always remember this one gathering in sioux city back in

the early days. we were all at this beautiful home, a gorgeous day, and we were sitting out in the backyard. folks of all ages were sitting in launchers and in the grass. and even though not one single person there had ever met me before, i was warmly welcomed, like an old friend. so we just hard to talk with one another about our lives and our experiences. the more we talked, the more my fears and apprehensions started to fade away. and i realized something important. these folks were not strangers at all. they reminded me of my parents, my aunts and uncles, the neighborhood kids from down the block. i just felt at home, so it home, in fact, that i kicked off my high heels and started walking

around barefoot in the grass. it felt pretty good. and that is how i wound up feeling just about everywhere i went throughout this state. although, for the record, i kept my shoes on most of the time. and it was not just how folks here treated me. it was how they treated my whole family. an entire neighborhood sang happy birthday to malia on the fourth of july. you all of fun at barack when he lost a carnival game. i will never forget encouraging to play and jump on a trampoline to play with their kids. they welcomed us into their homes at coffee shops and the

historical society right here in cedar falls. these communities may not have been exactly like the one i grew up been. i may not have cut come -- i mean that have come from exactly the same backgrounds. but you share your stories with me and the more i realized what truly connects us is our shared values. in the end, there is so much more that unites us than divides us. that is really what i want to talk with all of you about today. i want to talk about those values. the values you have learned here, the values you have learned growing up and spending time here in iowa and how those values will serve you every step of the way on the journey ahead. the first value of one to discuss is, in many ways, the most important, but often taken

for granted. that is the power of family. this is something that all you folks here in iowa understand in your bones, to your core, just listening to keep. -- to katie. i saw a family to support each other through good times and bad. i can tell you from my own experience that nothing else in your life, nothing, not your job, not your hobby, not the money in your bank account, nothing will sustain you like family. when i was growing up, he may not have had much -- we may not have had much, but my family was and still is my rock. i was raised in modest means, probably like many of you. we live donned a top floor of a

two-family home on the southside of chicago. my brother and i reached high school and i took a job as a secretary. in my household, we have rules. we did our chores. reminded our queues and, yes, we minded our ps. we sure did laugh a lot and we love each other more than i could never put in words. even though those times may seem far away, even though my father has passed, 5 father lives -- my brother lives 3,000 miles away, the bonds that we formed in that tiny apartment still connect us. what they will always be my koran my compass in life. graduates, after the ceremony is over, i wanted to hug the folks that are in these stands a

little harder and make sure that you call the next week and the week after that and the week after that and the week after that, right? moms and dads and grandparents. [applause] these are the folks who made you who you are. these are the folks who will stand by you no matter what life throws your way. these are the folks who prepared you to succeed here at -- at uoi. another thread woven throughout this university and the state is the value of service to others. the truth is that many of you could be giving this part of my speech yourselves because you have been living this value every day of your lives. during the floods of 2008, so many of you were out there sandbagging.

after the tornado, you went to provide all kinds of relief services to the victims there. there were the volunteer tuesday's were many of you serve at agencies like the salvation army and the northeast iowa food bank. students here have stepped up to serve our country and where it's uniform at a time when we are asking so much of our troops and their families. that includes four members of this class who were commissioned as second lieutenant in the u.s. army just this morning. [cheers and applause] and i am so proud of them and so proud that so many of you have stepped up to support them. you have already lost a veteran student organization. you're putting together a website to connect military students to university resources. you're working with the va to

provide matching funds to provide tuition and fees if they needed. i encourage all of you, no matter where you go, to keep doing that, keep honoring our troops and their families. we have all seen, just in the last week, how much these folks deserve our support. just imagine a small group of brave men dropped by helicopter, half a world away in the dead of night, into a known danger inside the layer of the most wanted man in the world. they did not hesitate. risking everything for us, for our freedom and security [[ cheers and applause] they did it not just as navy

seals. they did it as husbands, as fathers, as sons. their families were back here with no idea of their mission or whether their loved ones would ever come home. that is the very essence of the words service. and the least we can do is give something back to these troops and their families who have given us so much. [applause] i have seen again and again that giving back, that serving others helps keep everything in perspective. service is what connects us to one another, to our neighbors and communities and our country. it reminds us that we are not simply individuals living isolated lives.

we are all woven together. so, graduates, i hope that make that kind of impact. in my life, i have found that helping military families is one way that resonates with me. it is one of my many passions and it has driven me to start a nationwide effort called "joining forces" to honor these military families. this passion keeps me going every day knowing that i am part of something so much beer and some is more important than just my own individual -- so much bigger and so much more important than just my own individual needs. find that passion within yourself and follow it where ever takes you. with all of the classes and extracurricular activities and the experiences that you have had over the last four years, this university has giving you so many chances to discover that

passion. understand that the process of discovery does not stop when you leave this campus. i know that, from my own experience, back when i graduated from college a very long time ago, i was certain that i wanted to be a lawyer. i did everything else supposed to do. i got my law degree. i got a job at a big fancy firm in chicago. by all appearances, i was living the dream. but the truth is, all the while that i was climbing, i knew something was missing. sure, i was working up in a tall building downtown. but when i looked out along the sought -- the skyline of the city, even though i could see the community i had come from way off in the distance, i was so far up, so far away that i could not feel that community. i felt like i was beginning to lose that connection to where i had come from.

i realized that i did not want to climb anymore. i wanted to be grounded, working with the folks that i knew, folks like the ones i grew up with. i wanted to be mentoring young people. i wanted to be helping families, put food on the table and a roof over their head. i wanted to give folks the same kind of chances that i had. so i did something that shocked my friends and my family and added about a decade on to my student loan debt. i quit that job. yes. crazy me. i left that high-paying firms to go for the city government. from there, i moved on to lead a nonprofit organization called " public allies" helping other young people pursue public service careers. i was not making nearly as much money in my office was not nearly as big or nice, but i was working with terrific young people and colleagues who inspired me. i found that i would wake up

every day with excitement, a sense of purpose and possibility because i was finally doing something that made me feel fully alive. graduates, that is what i wish for all of you today, for you to find that career, that calling that makes you feel fully alive. i know that your passions may not be the same as mine. that is fine. you may feel most alive in front of a classroom, maybe a boardroom, or maybe in one of those high-rise office buildings. but no matter what it is, keep that fire burning. it will not always be easy. the path will not always be laid out neatly for you. sometimes, you will not be able to find the perfect job. sometimes, you might have to take a job just to stay afloat. those are the realities of life. but no matter what you do from

9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., know that you should always try to find some way to pursue what you love. maybe it is a hobby that one day become your own business. maybe it is volunteer work that help to develop the skills and passions. and you will have false starts and setbacks along the way. that is for sure. but i promise you that, if you keep listening to yourself and keep yourself open to new possibilities and new people and new ways of thinking, you will find a place in this world that feels right for you. that openness, that willingness to be exposed to the people and experiences, that is the final value that want to discuss today. this is something that i think truly defines the state of iowa and its people. you do not rush to judgment. you give just about anyone respectful hearing. that was certainly my

experience. people did not know a thing about me, yet they listened. they were curious. they asked questions. they gave me the benefit of the doubt and a chance to show why was it. that is because people here in iowa understand that everyone has something to offer. just think about your classmates here. while you might all looks similar today in your black robes, very distinguished, i know that there is a kaleidoscope of talent and passion and experience with which you have enrich each other these past four years. we just met jerry watson from gary. he is the first person in his family to go to college. he has inspired his older siblings to get their degrees. we have graduates like ashley pasco, from martel, iowa, who works tirelessly across the state to raise awareness for

people with muscular dystrophy. we have graduates like rene red beard, a senior from marion, iowa, who has won awards all across the country, even being invited by one of the three tenors to sing in los angeles. we have graduates nadine ishimwae, who survived the rwandan genocide as a child. she came here when she could not even read, write, or speak english. each of these students and every single one of you is unique in some way. each one of you has something to teach the rest of us. i would urge you to be curious about those who have experience learn from them. is different from yours. let their ideas and experiences challenge your own assumptions and perspectives. at the end of the day, do not

ever lose sight of what makes you unique. do not ever stop believing in what you have to offer. do not ever count yourself out. if you ever do begin to count -- to doubt yourself, if you ever start to wonder whether you can fulfill all those dreams, i want you to think of two words that showed this country that young people here at this university have got what it takes. ali forok manesh. [cheers and applause] and i want you to think about all those people who came before you, all of the alumni who have been here before today.

the first african-american principal in iowa, walter cunningham, nancy powell, the director general of the united states foreign services, and now and ancy ossi. she grew up in cedar rapids dreaming of faraway people and countries. she got her b.a. and nba in the early 1980's and then took a job selling phones. she went to california where she heard of a small startup nonprofit called international medical corps, an organization that works in some of those faraway lands responding to emergencies, helping local residents become self-reliant. she asked if they needed a volunteer. as it turned out, they needed a ceo. so nancy listened to her heart. she took over and imc took off.

they have directed more than $1 billion in assistance and training worldwide. they touched millions of lives from somalia to the balkans to haiti and japan. as ceo, nancy has earned awards that put her in the company of presidents and generals, nobel prize recipients and oscar winners. you may hear nancy's story and king, wow, -- and think, wow, that is pretty cool. i could never do something like that. but there's something i would like you to leave with. this university and this state have given you everything you need to do something exactly like that. the values you have learned here, commitment to family, openness to diversity, willingness to serve the community and country, the courage to follow your passion -- these are the keys to success

in any field. i guarantee you. they are the building blocks of a fulfilling life. they are the foundation of healthy families and vibrant communities and, yes, a strong country. and that is what i saw when i first started coming to iowa. and, graduates, that is why i wanted to come back. i wanted to remind you what makes you special and so very unique. i want you to realize the power and value of your experience here in this state. i want you to feel the strength of this place that so many of you call home and i want you and i need you to carry the values that you have learned your with you wherever you go. we need you to share those values with everyone you meet and pass them down onto your children and your grandchildren,

spread them throughout our country and throughout the world. and whether your next step is new york or new hartford, whether you are looking for a job in the moran or new delhi -- in des moines or new delhi, i want to to remember that you can kick off your shoes and walk in the grass anywhere in the world because you can. i am so proud of you. godspeed and let you on the road ahead. take care. [applause] ♪

>> next, a discussion on how americanism fits in today's culture. then weekly addresses with president obama and martha roby. then a look at the legal challenges to the health care law. this week, new mexico senator jeff bingaman discusses u.s. energy policy and congressional efforts to address the energy issues. that is sunday at 10:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. eastern on c-span. >> next, a discussion on the subject of american identity. speakers include charles crowd hammer and lamar alexander of tennessee. analysts analyze the wrist -- a speech by roosevelt about

americanism and how it relates to american culture today. this is two hours. i'm here to welcome you to the 2011 bradley sympos jump devoted to the question of true americanism, what it is and why it matters. national affairs is precedes to co-host the symposium together with the hudson institute's bradley center for philanthropy and civic renewal. a few quick words of thanks. to cheryl miller and above all, to the lynde and harry bradley foundation which supports so many important projects aimed at advancing american ideals and understanding american life. we're honored this morning to have with us so many of the foundation's board members and families as well as foundation staff members. we're grateful to dan schmidt

for his guidance in setting up this event. one product of american identity was e pluribus unem. beyond that general interes the occasion for taking up the question, the way we will today, is the publication of an important and wonderful new collection of readings entitled, "what so proudly we hail," edited by amy kass, leon kass and diana schau i see a lot of you have copies of the book. the book is a collection of short stories and speeches and reflections that all, in one way or another, get athe question of american identity, who we are and what we are about as a nation. it's about america's character and creed, the place of the law, of courage and sacrifice, of civility and republican virtues in our civic life and enormously

difficult challenges of assimilation and integration in american life, building and sustaining our impossibly complex society. and it's a collection that, as the subtitle suggests, speaks not just to the mind, but to the heart and soul. one of the things it captures especially well is the way in which american patriotism has always addressed itself to the hearts and minds of american citizens, how our creed has always been part philosophy and part poetry. that has always made american civic education especially complicated and challenging and theim o the sim -- symposium today to take up a form of that challenge. the best way to do that is through a conversation grounded in a particularly rich and engaging text and ideally helped along by wise teachers. we are fortunate to have with us a panel of people perfectly suited for such a conversation. the people on the stage here hardly need much iroduction so all i need to do is tell you who they are. with us, as you see, lamar

alexander, senator from tennessee and chairman of the senate republican conference. robert george, mccormick professor of jurisprudence at princeton university. frank hanna, c.e.o. of hanna capital, daniel henninger, deputy editorial page editor of the "wall street journal," charles krauthammer, harvey mansfield, professor of government at harvard university and one of the winners of the 2011 bradley pris. wilfred mcclay, professor of history at the university of tennessee at chattanooga and senior fellow at the ethics and public policy center, paul singer, founder of elliott associates, juan williams, journalist and fox news political analyst, diana schaub, professor of political science at loyola college in maryland and co-editor of the new volume. our conversation will be guided by diana's two other editors and two great teachers for decades at the university of chicago and now with us in washington, amy kass at the hudson institute and

leon kass the american surprise institute. without further ado, amy kass. [applause] >> thank you. n everybody hear me? at one point in his essay, theodore roosevelt asserts that americans who choose to live in europe never really become europeans, only cease becoming americans and become nothing. over a century later i a class at the university of chicago, i saw roosevelt's assertion turned upside down. st a few weeks after 9/11, on the first day of my course on human being and citizen, i began by asking the 28 eager freshman to identify themselves by name and say a few words about who they were. the following ensued.

student one, "i'm a and i'm korean-american." student two, "i'm b, and i'm hispanic-american." student three, "i'm c, and i'm catholic-american" and so it went until one student said, "i'm q, and, well, well, i'm just american, which i guess means i'm nothing." his classmates silencely but sympathettically concurred. familiar with the posturing of other graduates, i would usually have dismissed the student's speech as well as class reaction but this was just after 9/11 when 3,000 of their fellow citizens had been killed merely for being just americans. in what country, i wondered, did these people, united states citizens all think they were living? 10 years later, what it means to be an american remains

troublingly unsettled. we increasingly celebrate diversity and multiculturalism at home and globalization and internationalism abroad. many of our most privileged young people regard themselves mainly as citizens of the world. among intellectuals, the very idea of national ideity is under challenge. spontaneous displays of patriotism often provoke moral critiques from opinion leaders. regarding immigration, we no longer hear of the melting pot. it has been years since serious public figures spoke about the american way of life. what, then, do we americans have in common and what unites us as americans? how do we americans identify ourselves as individuals and as

a people? what do we look up to and revere? to what larger community and ideals are we attached and devoted? for what are we willing to fight and to sacrifice? making its public debut today, our new anthology entitled "what so proudly we hail" speaks directly to these questions. informed by the conviction that making citizens is as much a matter of the heart as it is of the mind, it seeks to exploit the soul-shaping psibilities of american short stories, political speeches and songs to promote self reflection and thoughtful patriotism. the selections are grouped in six chapters, each aressing a crucial issue -- national identity and why it matters, the american creed, liberty,

equality, individual enterprise, religious freedom and toleration, the american character displaying the strength and weaknesses of individuals who are informed by the american creed, the virtues of a robust citizenry, among them, self command, law-abidingness, courage, civility, compassion, public spiritedness and reverence. the sometimes competing goals of civic life, lifting the floor, elevating the ceiling, and preserving and perpetuating what we hold dear, and finally, how to make a national one out of a multicultural many. theodore roosevelt's speech on true americanism which appears in the final chapter in the section on immigration and assimilation makes it clear that creating an american unem out of our veryigated pluribs is hardly

a new difculty. written at a time when there were concerns about national unittity and national identity, roosevelt insists on the necessity of undivided civic loyalty and national attachment to the american republic. our panel this morning will use theodore rooselt's essay as the point of departure for considering the meaning and significance of americanism today. they have all read the essay. many of you probably have not. to make it possible for everyone here and those watching on c-span to follow the conversation and to help pme the panel's pump, we will give theodore roosevelt the first word as leon will read some excerpts from his essay. >> i won't try to impersonate

theodore roosevelt but i'll try to read it with some gusto. these e excerpts, longish excerpts. "we americans have many gat problems to solve, many threatening evils to fight and many deeds to do if as we hope we have the wisdom, the strength, the courage and the virtue to do them. yet there is one quality which we must bring to the solion of every problem, that is an intense and for fertiv american. we shall never be successful the dangers that confront us or achieve true greatness or reach the lofty ideal which the founders of our mighty federal republic have set before us unless we're americans in heart and soul, in spirit and purpose, keenly rely on the spirit implied in being american. there are two or three sides to the question of americanism and

two or three senses in which the word americanism can be used to express the antthes of what is unwholesome and undesirable. in the first place, we wish to be broadly american andational as opposed to beingocal or sectional of the we do not wish in politics or literature or art to develop that unwholesome parochial spirit, that over-exultation of the little community at the expense of the great nation which produces what is described as the patriotism of the village, the patriotism of the belfry. second, the patriotism of the village or the belfry is bad but the lack of all patriotism is even worse. it may be that at ages so remote that we cannot understand any of the feelings of those who will dwell in them, patriotism will no longer be regarded as a virtue exactly as it may be in those remote ages people may

look down upon and disregard monog mick marriage but as things are for 2,000 years past and are likely to be for 2,000 years to come, the words home and country mean a great deal. at present, treason, like adultery, ranks as one of the worst of all possible crimes. one may fall very far short of treason and yet be an undesirable citizen in the community. a man who becomes europeanized and loses his life for his native land is not a traitor but is a silly and undesirable citizen. nothing will more quickly or more surely disqualify a man from doing good work in the world than the aquirement of that flaccid habit of mind which its possessors style cosmopolitanism. it is not only necessary to americanize the immigrants of foreign birth who settle among us, but it is even more necessary for those among us who are by birth and descent already

americans not to throw away our birth right and with incredible and ctemptible folly, wander back to bow down before the alien gods whom our forefathers foresook. the first sense in which the word americanism may be employed is with reference to the americanizing of the newcomers to our shores. we must americanize them in every way, in speech, political ideals and principles and in their way of looking at the relations between church and state. we welcome the german or the irishman who becomes an american. we have no use for the german or irishman w remains such. we do not wish german americans or irish americans who figure as such in our political social and political lif we want only americs and provided they are such, we do not care whether are of native or of irish or of german ancestry.

we have no room in any healthy community for a german-american vote or an irish-american vote and it is contemptible demagogy to put plank into any party platform with the purpose of catching such a vote. we have no room for any people who do not act and vote simply as americans and as nothing else. mover, we have as little use for people who carry religious prejudices into our politics as for those whoarry prejudices of caste or nationality. we stand unalterably in favor of the public school system in its entirety. we believe that english and no other language is that in which all the school exercises should be conducted. we are against any division of the school fund and against any appropriation of public money for sectarian purposes but we are equally opposed to any discrimination against or for a man because of his creed. we demand that all citens, protestants, catholic, jew and

gentile, shall have fair treatment in any way and all alike shall have their rights guaranteed them. more than a third of the people of the northern states are of foreign birth and parentage. an immense number of them have become completely americanized and these stand on exactly the same plane as the descendants of any puritan or knickerbocker among us but where impgrants or the sons of immigrants cling to the speech, the customs, the ways of life and habits of thought of the old world which they have left, they thereby harm both themselves and us. it is an immense benefit to the european immigrant to change h into an american citizen, to bear the name of american is to bear the most honorable titles and whoever does not so believe has no business to bear at name at all and if he comes from europe, the sooner he goes back, the better.

we freely extend the hand of welcome and of good fellowship to every man, no matter what his creed or birthplace, who comes here honestly intent on becoming a good united states citizen like the rest of us, but we have a right and it is our duty to demand that he shallndeed become so. americanism is a question of spirit, conviction and purpose, not of creed or birthplace. a scandinavian, a german o an irish man who has really become an american has the right to on exactly the same footing as any native born citizen in the land and is just as much entitled to the friendship and support, social and political, of his neighbors. we americans can only do our allotted task well if we face it steadily and bravely, seeing but not fearing the dangers. above all, we must stand shoulder to shoulder, not asking as to the ancestry or creed of our comrades, but only demanding that they number very truth

americans and that we allork together heart, hand and head, for the honor and greatness of our common country. [applause] >> the panel has been asked to discuss three topics which we will consider inurn. first, roosevelt's view of the nature of true americanism. second, and more important, our own views of the meaning of americanism today, and third, why it matters. we're going to proceed not by prepared speeches but it is to be hoped by a genuine conversation which leon and i will try to keep on track and keep moving forward. so we begin with roosevelt. as you have heard, theodore roosevelt approaches true americanism negatively in terms

three anantithe sees. it is supposed to narrow local and parochial attachments. it is opposed to overbroad attachments, cosmopolitanism, it is opped both for immigrants and electoral politics to ethnically or religiously hyphenated identities. in a word, we should all regard ourselves and one another simply and unqualifyingly as americans, but what is the positive content of american identity and attachment? what exactly, according to roosevelt, does true americanism consist of? what are, to use his terms, its common spirit, convictions and purposes? so who would like to begin? if you're shy, i'll just call on you.

robbie? >> amy, if americanism is a question of spirit, conviction and purpose, as roosevelt said, then certainly agree with that. then the question is, what's the conviction? from the conviction, we should get a sense of the spirit and the purpose. and the conviction, i think, we draw from the declarati of independence. it captures it so perfectly. interestingly, it doesn't appear in at least of the parts of the speech that we were given. and i'm referring of course to the great second sentence of the declaration, that we hold tse truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights. what lincoln referred to as the american proposition which we referred to time and time again in defending the nation in the

context of the civil war. i'll venture a thought, leon, if can use that old principle of aristotle's method of social science in identifying the focal case of a thing and then identifying less focal cases by reference to the central or focal case, it would steam me that the focal case ofn american is a person who identifies himself as an american where his sense of identity is rooted in precisely that conviction, that the belief that it's just true, it's basic, that all men are created equal and that they're endowed by their creator by certain unalienable rights, that these are rights that did not come from the government, that they did not come from kings or presidents or parliaments or legislatures, from no human power, and therefore cannot be taken away by any mere human power.

rather, it's the duty of all human political authority to protect those rigs and to honor them themselves. >> diana? >> why do you think there is no mention in this speech of the american principles? what i get from the speech is that americanism is mostly a matter of energy and couge and struggle and material prosperity. guess it strikes me as if roosevelt's presentation as etty inadequate or truncated version of americanism. what he admires are the empire builders whether in the realm of politics or commerce. everything he mentioned is the put in the context of conquest. so on theasis of what roosevelt presents, i don't see how the greatness of the american republic would differ the greatness of the roman republic except for the fact that we speak english and insist on speakerring english i would agree with you about my

definition of americanism but i don't get that from the roosevelt speech. >> senator? >> i think perhaps he assumed in 1894 that everybody know what it meant to be an american, that you have common culture that came from people used to say in tennessee, farmers said, i read the bible and the farmer's almanac and that's about all i need. people knew the same things. he didn't define it. said what he was against but seems to me if we were looking for definition, simply that we pledge allegiance to a creative allegiance that unites this country. that's our greatest accomplishment. you can't become chinese. you have to become american if be a citizen. i suspect he just figured we knew that there were a few common principles, not just equal opportunity, but liberty, rule of law, a few others and then there's some you might put

under character like anything is possible that we all knew that and then what we should do is be that and instead of what we used to be. and then throw in the common language. during his presidency, you know, it became necesry for people to -- every new citizen to learn english. that was in 1906, and also, going on in 1894, robert putnam hasritten a lot about all the americanizing efforts that were going on. e koehler company in wisconsin would bring in a lot of germans and spend them time teaching them what it meant to be american and theiwanis clubs and boy scouts and civic clubs would do that and i suspect they just all thought they knew what it meant. >> so why the hea duty emphasis on hardyhood and courage and the things diana referred to. >> that was just roosevelt. >> no, iould say that that was

his manliness. i'm an expert on manliness. [laughter] and he likes to set himself off against others. he likes to make himself dramatic. he likes to think that he finds himself in a horrible situation and there's no solution from that except to assert yourself and so he likes to make great distinction and divisions among us and i guess he reminds us, i would say, if it's true, that patriotism is a matter of heart as well as mind, as evans said, the heart is also the seat of not just love but also anger, and maybe anger is closer to politics than love is. >> frank -- sorry. >> i think the way to look at

it, to make it sort of sharp, would be to say that roosevelt's idea of americanism has to do with energyr manliness and i would say that our idea has to do with liberty. after all, manliness and energy are not anything unique to the united states. as diane was saying, all of the republican virtues -- courage, rule of law, et cetera, we have in common with rome. what makes us different from all the other republics, from, say, all the other nations in the west, we're the only one and th is unique in human history, founded on a proposition, founded on a document. our day o independence is the day in which it was signed, the french is the storming of the bastille, linking victory either in revolution or battle. and this dedication to an idea,

to a principle, is from which it is that from which everything else president roosevelt was talking about. because we're dedicated to liberty, because we're dedicated to the rule of law within a specific, almost sacred document, our presidents swear to defend the constitution, not the people, not the state, not the government, not the land, the constitution. that's a very unusual idea, and that's what unites us and it revolves around liberty to an extend that i think almost no other country does. i mean, if you walk around you will see, which i think is unique in capital cities in the world, there are statues the city all ove dedicated to libberators of other cntries. on constitution avenue you have

statues to all the latin americans. there's a huge ukrainian monument within a mile of here. on massachusetts avenue, you've got gandhi and thomas mazarek100 yards apart looking at each other. in no other city would we celebrate the idea of liberty as expressed in other couries in the capital. because it's about dedication to a proposition, that's what brings us to the idea that we do not want to see this kind of ethnic separatism that was in that speech and that we see proliferating today because it negates the entire idea of people being american as a result of this allegiance to a constitution and to a principle, rather than allegiance to clan

or tribe or race or ethnicity. >> frank? >> i was concerned that maybe the line that troubled me most was when he said patriotism of the village is bad. and i thought toyself, well, the core of the village is a family, and so i felt he was bifuvericating my allegiances. i have, as a human being, we, i, all of us, have competing claims on us. my agreement to the proposition, as charles was talking about, and i actually prefer to look at the preamble to the constitution as opposed necessarily to the declaration of the independence because i think it's sort of constitution that we as americans sign on to in a american of c c c ctan with one another. and so certainly my covenant with all of the americans in this room is something to which should have a lot of allegiance and loyalty. but it is not preeminent.

it is not preeminent to the covenant i made with my wife, to the cov vant -- covenant i have with my children, to the faith i have. so i got the feeling roosevelt was trying to shove us into saying that our covenant as americans is superior to all else and i don't kno that that's healthy for us or is natural for us as human beings. >> would you want to say that your covenant with your family makes you american? >> no, not per se. i think there are wonderful families in every country and families have loyalty to o another. i think the liberty tt americans strive to provide for one another, to provide domestic tranquility and share the common defense, all the things in the

preamble, and notably, the blessings of liberty, i think it helps my family and can make my family healthier but the covenant with my wife is not an american thing, or with my family. >> iust want to elaborate on that a little bit. i was uncomfortable from the beginning with the notion of americanism which sounds like an ideology, and seems to me to lead us in the wrong direction. i mean, americanism is not like marxism or positivism or something like that. i agree that i'm troubled by -- certainly consistent with everything else we know about roosevelt, his overly nationalistic view of national identity and his belief that local affiliations are dangerous. now, part of that is the context of the post-civil war era in which those kinds of local affinities are very much on his mind. that's why he mentions mark

twain and joel handlers harris as the two authors -- certainly harris is a regional author, if anybody was one, the uncle reamus author, but includes the south. he doesn't in two years before plessy versus ferguson, include african-americans, and i think that's a notable addition that has to be counted. but on the question of other family and local affiliations, in some way detracting from the nation, i think he misunderstands the nature of american national feeling, that, in fact, it has been through our federal system and various other means, it has been the genius of american national sentiment to allow local affiliations to lead into larger ones. tokyo observed this very thing, if you let a man have a control over his property and his locality and a voice in local governance, then it will stir his sentints of patriotism for

the nation as a whole so i think setting these two in opposition is quite wrong-headed although very consistent with roosevelt if youook at his new nationalism speech in 1910, it's much privileging the nation over all other things. it sees states and localits as administrative units. >> i agree to some degree with wilfred and frank on this topic. i think roosevelt calibrated, took the zoom lens, and twisted it just about right when he rejected both the multiculturalism and world view that we're citizens of the world. he didn't use that phrase, i think. and also rejected the primacy of the tribe, the sectarian group, and what i think he did when he made that calibration was create something very robust because

tribalism is not just a dysfunctional tribalism harming the creation and maintenance of critical mass to provide economic security, military security and keep the whole growing, peaceful and prosperous. he got it just about right. to this day, tribalism and sectarianism and allegiances to groups, smaller than america, are going the wrong direction, going the opposite direction. i think he created a very robust calibration of primary allegiance without taking away, of course, allegiance to the family and to the spouse and the close-knit group. >> i don't entirely disagree with you about that but let me give you an example that may

help flesh out what i mean a little better. consider thanksging, which is a holiday that many in other countries simply do not understand. for americans, it's probably our most uncontroversial holiday and thanksgiving is a remarkable thing when you about it because it brings together families families generally come together for thanksgiving. but there is a sense that this is a national right, that we all -- something we all perform together even if we don't believe in something to give thanks to, we overlook that for the moment and have an attitude of generic gratefulness for the things we have but my point is the entranceway is through the life of the family but it radiates out, ramifies out into loyalties and affinities and love that are much larger in scope. >>t's interesting to mention thanksgiving. i'd like to throw out a

different observation about a different holiday and how it reflects some of the distinctions that roosevelt made. he didn't just have a cold, analytical view of europe in opposition to america and americanism. it was revulsion, revulsion leaps off the page, the man who becomes eureanized is a silly and undesirable man, over civilized, over refined, 104 years before the formation of the euro, he had prescience about that. let's talk about the fourth of july, which in america, it's independence day and it's, again, a family, a local holiday, locally expressed, but we have a military history, a

marshal history with expansionist and imperialistic phases in our history so there it is all over america, hamburgers and balloons and firetrucks and parades. go to france andaris on bastille day and see what they do with their, i think, analogous holiday. there's a never-ending military rade down the champs elysees and that's what they do and how they see themselves, falsely, of course, and the kids, of course, play with mini guiotines. >> can i make one point, i didn't read the first objection in the speech as one against the family. i saw it as being anti-regional. regionalism was obviously a problem in the post-civil war era and of the three objections in the speech, it's the least

relevant today. if anything, we are lamenting the loss of regionalism in a mass media where accents, cuisine, local customs are almost wiped out. if you go to any city and visit a strip mall, it cod be any city. so if anything, we've solved the issue, if anything, we've overdone it, creating a mass culture which suppresses the charm and attractiveness of regionalism, but he's very acute and prescient in the other objections about internationalism and he's right that it's city. it's not pernicious, it's naive and idiotic rather than being in any way evil or malicious. simply an idea of the lion and lamb happening in our lifetime which is obviously adolescent and childish but the last is the most interesting, the one where he objects to this ethnic separatism. not regional or local,

geographic separatism. that isn't an issue but it was separatism which occurs in different parts of the country but among common ethnicities which he saw as a threat and i think it was extremely prescient and acute, ifnything, the differences in his day, the federal government and the national ethos wanted t suppress that separatm. the reason that such an epidemic today is because the mass -- the political class and the media celebrate this separatism, the universities, everywhere. so that if you want to oppose it, you are going against sort of conventional wisdom, and that makes it all the more difficult to overcome in our day. that's why it's our problem. >> just to clarify, i do understand he did not condemn the family. but he did unequivocally say patriotism of the village and the belfry, those two things,

are bad. and i don't think we can gloss over that. when you say unequivocally something is bad and you look at the core of what the village or the belfry is -- >> we don't pledge allegiance to the great city of atlanta. >> so the question is, why did he do this? did he say these things? i think what leon's excerpts and this conversation has made clear is that roosevelt's speech is brutally exclusionary, and roosevelt was an intelligent person and i think he probably was well aware of the harshness of some of the things he was saying so why was he doing it? and it seems to me that roosevelt was wrestleling with tensions and a problem that is always present when trying to come to grips with the united states. it was the same tensions that existed in 1789. the country had fought

revolutionary war, come together, freed ourselvesrom the british, weraphy -- arrive in philadelphia and we know what the obvious tensions were there. this is a country that, of its nature, is diverse, and it's a country that's centrifugal and the question was, how do you hold it together, what idea do you look for to hold all o the different kind of people together, and i'd like to align roosevelt with someone else who was addressing this subject back then, and that was frederick jackson turner, the historian. interestingly enough, roosevelt's speech was given in 1894. turner, in 1893, gave a very famous speech to the american historical association and it was on the idea of the american frontier. i'm going to read a quick excerpt from it because to me it's kind of astonishing how much it tracks what roosevelt was saying. turner said, he admired "that

practical and preventive turn of minduick to find expedience, the masterful grasp of material things lacking in artistic but powerf to affect great ends, restless nervous energy, working for good and evil, that, turner said, are the traits of the frontier. and that describes teddy roosevelt and i think it was roosevelt as it was with turner trying to find an idea of america that was different and i think it resides in the idea of the frontier that pulls a diverse people together for a common purpose and in roosevt's time in 1894, heavens knows, the industrial revolution, the creafs infirment with all of the new immigrants coming so the intense brutality of roosevelt's sech was intended to try to push to the threats to the basic american ideas that all is under

these centrifugal tensions. >> something to be said, too, for energy. it's true, i think, that our americanism derives from our proposition, the proposition that all men are created equal at the beginning of the declaration of independence, but at the end, you have the signers of the declaration pledging their lives, their forts and sacred honor to which someone said the meaning of the declaration said all men are created equal, especialliet the undersigned, which creates a difference between the the principlesf of equality and those who actually promote it and use energy to sustain it such that you might say that there are levels of true americanism that

at the weakest level, it would be, any human being, because any human being is potentially an american, if the principle says all human beings are created equal. but then stronger tha that there would be the believers in the principle that all men are created equal, and stronger still than that would be the practitioners of it and i think this is where energy comes in and especially the energy of self government. our country is not only devoted to liberties of principle but we pracce it and we practice it successfully and our constitution has enabled to do it successfully. it's the first republic that works. i think our framers of the constitution understood that this constitution had to overcome all the defects, difficulties and ills of republics that existed before,

including the roman, which, after all, turned into an empire. how could you resolve that problem? you had to have a special kind of, a new kind of constitution in which people practiced their liberty. what is great about america is that it practices what it eaches. >> but wouldn't that, then, wouldn't you make an argument on behalf of the locality as the place that energy of self government is really most felt. he seems to want to direct everything to the few of those who are going to expan it, who are going to turn it into an empire, as opposed to those who more conservative and remain in their villages but really do undertake the task of governing themselves. >> i don't see energy as uniquely american. you want to talk about energy, i think kissinger once said that russia expanded by the equivalent of a belgium every

year for 2 years. that's energy. it was hardly american. it seems to me that the idea about equality, you know, all men are created equal, the fundamental axiom, but the operative political phrasin the declaration is a government government -- life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, the constitution's intent is to create a structure that will protect that. i grew up in canada where the founding constitution of the d.n.a. act, the b.n.a. act of 18 67 defines the purpose of that constitution as peace, order and good government. think of how different that is from life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, which is a trinity expressing aspects of the same idea. it's all about liberty. and that's what makes us different from other country. >> juan, do you want to get in

on this? i would like to then move the conversation, as it's already moving on its own, leaving teddy roosevelt behind, to begin to talk abo what we ourselves think americanism is today, no longer the day of the frontier. please. >> i think it's important to say that i think the context in which roosevelt wrote this was a surge in terms of immigration, and that he was not speaking specifically to the family, he was speaking to the idea that people would become locked into localities or regional tastes and attitudes especially in the aftermath of the civil war, but the key, i suspect, was the surge in terms of immigration and in picking up on something that amy said earlier, this is really why this document matters so much to us tod. today you have a situation in which the dommographers especially after the 2010 census

no longer speak of the great american melting pot but talk about the great american mosaic, in which people of all sorts and variety and colors making up america, but even more so, and i think more troublingly, the great american salad bowl in which you have very distinct eces and parts like the tomatoes, the lettuce, the carrots, retain their distinct identities, even if they're working together to make the american experience one, the nutritious salad, if you will. i guess you could think of me as a fuzzy headed crot. but to me, it is esstial that you say very clearly, and i think thiss one of roosevelt's points, very clearly, that the idea is that you would become american, and the reason i think this is so highly relevant in theontext is important in terms of immigration, is that we are experiencing another surge

in terms of immigration today and the example that amy gave of her class at the start of those young people who identified themselves as so-called hyphenated americans, it is because it's chic these days to insi that, you know, i retain my native identity, i was born somewhere else, and i retain that identity, i retain that language, i retain that attitude, rather than giving myself up, giving myself over in terms of marriage almost, to becoming an american, to assimilation. assimilation has become a dirty word in so many quarters in this country today and the idea is that why would you give up who you are, that who you are authically is not to be dedicated to the american ideal and i happen to agree with roosevelt in terms of conviction and purpose. i think it's very clear that if you adopt an american mindset,

it is about conviction and purpose and determination and thisdea of equalit now, i say this as a black person and i think this is critical because he is writing as if black people don't exist in his document. he's really writing to the irish, to the gern, he may be writing to the italian but i'm not sure whether the italian is included in his document. and if you look at the recent census numbers, what they indicated, that the heart and soul of growth in this cntry today is largely hispanic. i think it's the case, i think, you look at where areas of growth have taken place, it's like 80% of the population surge has been hispanic or black. it's minority growth, even south.out the i'm not just talking california and new york. i'm talking about places like senator alexander's hamlin county in tennessee. go to minneapolis, known for

homogeneity of white people and all of a sudden you have somalis and you say, oh, my gosh, how did these communities become not only so large but cloisters that you can go into those communities and here's something i find terribly concerning to me is that in the mexican household, the dominican republic households, you are getting point where 90% of them don't speak english at home, they speak spanish. and it's also true then if you go into some asian communicates in san francisco, they don't speak english at home. when they are at home and relaxed, they're not identifying with america. they've got calling cards to call back home, they've got the internet.

i think the heart and soul of the essay is about the need to say, i am an american and identify with america and identify with the precepts and with the declaration and especially to identify with the idea that we hold some exceptional role and i am willing to fight and defend it and speak and advocate for it. >> if you're moving on to what we mean on -- i don't think we should get too distracted by roosevelt's emphasis on the national government as opposed to the community. that's just, you know, i don't agree. i think we work community by community. he was a very big, strong -- he might like the strong central government we have today. i think the essence of what he

talked about what was he was against, which is what politicians often do, it's easier to talk about what you're against than what you're for and ifou're moving on to what it means to be an american, building on wt juan said, the essence of our national identity is that you have to -- you must become an american if you want to be a citizen. you can't become french. you can't become chinese. so how do you become american? you become american one way, by pledging athreedges a creed of -- allegiance to a creed of beliefs that most of us hold in common. most of our politics, samuel huntington said, was about conflicts in those beliefs and dealing with the aspirations that all men are created equal but we agree on the principles, equal opportunity, liberty, rule of law, and we define in our law and have ever since the revolution what it means to be an american.

if amy would read to our class and say that every new citizen every year takes an oath saying that they renounce any allegiance to any locality that i have heretofore been a citizen, that's what we have required in the law since 1906 that you must speak english there that you must speak english. they're mostly about the declaration, the constitution. there is a pretty good and understanding. what makes us exceptional is a single thing that we are united by a set of ideas. and that is what it takes to cut become american, and after that what we do best is apparently

what your book seems to do, which is instead of enforcing americanism -- the worst example of that being mccarthyism -- instead we inspire patriotism. that is shown in reading the letters of soldiers, happenings at the courthouse. is discovering what it mea to be american. we are united by a creed. fifth we do not have that cannot -- if we do not have nations dare the united instead of the united states. >> i was going to talk about public schools.

roosevelt categorically and strongly supports public schools. i suspect you could probably divide this room down the middle as to whether people would concur in that view, even if they concurred otherwise in everything they wanted so well. the problem being we do not have a consensus anymore, that mean what it is to the american, and we have no confidence tha the public schools would convey that consensus if it existed. to meet my it epitomizes the fact that the county of los angeles, california, which is one of the worst school systems in the country, has instruction in over 100 languages. the requirement of the use of english is o and with it is, i thin in the tichenor understanding what it means to be an american -- is the understanding of what it means to be an american.

the liberty that is part of our fundamental make up as a nation involves the rights to educate your children any y you please, including doctors, private schools, and a mix of various things. oard is a movement back toward this much more robust -- or is a move back toward is much more robust form of education. >> it is very clear that the question of what it means to be an american visitor contested or ignored. who -- is either contested or ignored. while it is true that all new immigrants who undergo the naturalization ceremony do take this allegiance, but the children of the native born do not do so, and because the constitution on the subject of citizenship assembly defines us as those who are born in the united states and subject to the jurisdiction of the united states, or a particular state, and subject to the jurisdiction

of the laws, and there is no criteria or duty to citizenship to the nation. i think it is on this panel where there are thoughtful and caring people to see if we can pull together some of the thoughts that are in our own name, leaving teddy roosevelt aside, and see what we can make of this. ravi began with the declaration of independence, as ravi so often does. charles prefers the constitution, which is the constitutional horsdocument, noo say that those documents are in contention with each other. but how that those things we are in cabinet to agree with. are reminds us that lots of people -- in covenant to agree with. rvey reminds us that lots of people could agree with those principles. some people might even endorse them, but is more of the cognitive matter to choose to live by them, that it requires a

commitment, energy, matters of the heart and spirit. dan henin your point out -- dan point out that there is a tension in the united states going back to the beginning about making one out of manning, partly because the country is so big, partly -- one of many, because the country is so big, partly because there are so many different religions. and in a way, the very liberty to pursue your individualistic notions of how venus has also a central tendency -- notions of happiness has also a centrifugal tendencies. it does not matter as long as we are minding our own business and doing the american thing, but we do not think of ourselves in any rich or robust way as americans as opposed to some outsiders of the should bcity of chicago whoe

for the white sox. i woer if we could address some of these different strands and see whether we could do a little more in our own name. >> not yet why it matters, but what is. >> i would like to explore the issue in a little bit of detail the impact of economic freedom and this magnificent, fabulous now great -- migration of the founding principles, all men are created equal. in perfect, but and immigration to perhaps not the -- imperfect, but and immigration to perhaps not the characteristics. a couple of examples. at the internet.

france1960's, 1970's, came up with something national when it was going to take over the world and it was just that expression french grandiosity, actually. it kind of did not work. it was pretty useless and did not develop. now if you have one, sure it is going to be a terrific museum piece. it is not just that the internet was and is an american invention product development, but i believe it could only have been an american product, the product of imperfect meritocracy, but the end of the world. but i know the internet has transformed the world and continues to do so.

i know more about the hedge fund industry, but it illustrates manyf the same principles. i am a lawyer by formal training. and when i formed a hedge fund in 1977 there was a history of hedge funds, but what the hedge fund industry is is a pool of basically a unconstrained, but subject to rules and regulations about accounting standards, fraud, subject to the control of lenders. unconstrained, meaning you are not part of a herd, part of a group that measures success of 20% when the world makes 30% or, a failure of 20% when the world makes 30%. you have your own investors. most of the people who now run

hedge funds are the product of middle-class backgrounds. many of them, including myself, went to public schools. we send our kids to public schools. and from this growth of unconstrained free-form investing style has come a group of people that very rapidly have a new rank. people who were involved in policy, politics, philanthropy, an entrepreneur philanthropy, and i think the hedge fund industry as well as the internet or illustrates something that is very closely related because of the need for america to bounce back from its proemsnd the self-imposed, self-made problems of the last 30 and 40 years, some of them cultural, many of them ravi has been writing about

for a long time. to generate the prosperity in a world in which our folks in general are paid a lot more than people in emerging economies, it is the openness, the rule of law, the autocracy, the fairness of the amecan syem. it is not a corrupt system. the police force in most places is not correct. the mayor's and we all know what happens around the world, but america continues to be. things need to be fixed, but i think all of this that i am discussing is a promise of something deeper than people happening to be in this location. it is part of an idea, and america was founded on an idea. one of the ideas was freedom. and another was property and

individual responsibility. i think is worth giving some thought, on this panel or not, into what is the connection between that ability of americans to do these remarkable things and to keep this prosperity going. and what it means to be an american, and americanism. >> i would just like to, in terms of what it is, align myself. i think in that her -- the fellow who has put his finger on it is harvey mansfield. he said that wn america practices at freedom is liberty. there is applied mathematics and the abstract mathematics, and liberty can be described in abstract said, to be sure. but i think harvey is right. it is a characteristi of everyday practice in the body and it doesn't within the context of the declaration of independence and the concert --

it does fit within the context of the declaration of independence and constitution. we were given this extraordinary template by the founders. almost every day one can think how really lucky we were tha those guys were who they worked back in those times. -- who they were back in those times. america just lucked out with that incredible group of men called the fall -- the founding fathers who gave us this incredible template. it affects things down to the level of school brds, local elections and national elections. we constantly crosses our liberty, but within a structured they give us. -- we constantly practice our liberty, but within a structure they gave us. our nature is to pull forward in this habit which is wholly constructive. >> senator, i appreciate you oathng the words from liotthe

that you citizens take. i went to a naturalization ceremony recently and it is a beautiful reminder of what we are to be. you pointed out that those born here do not take that oath. >> right. >> given what we are talking about in terms of desire in -- what you spoke about about a common agreement as americans. is it worth considerinthat when you register to vote you agree to take that oath? do we, as americans, want to give the right to vote to anyone? we are not willing to give citizenship talked to someone who came from a foreign land without the oath. should we require that for someone to vote? >> if i could just take 60 seconds. i was in a meeting once again the answer to that is that is what the public school is supposed to do.

>> but we do not take an oath. >> i was in a meeting of public educators one time and the head of another game asked what the rationale was for -- the head of notre dame asked what the rationale was for the public school. and an answer was given that the public school was created to teach children reading, writing, and arithmetic and what it means to be american with the hope that they would go home and teach their parents. e only rationale for the common school or the public school was to help the children learn what it meant to be an american. otherwise, they could all be fine. >> robert, did you want to get in? >> we are in the midst of a big debate in this country not so much about true americanism, but rather, the question -- not unrelated -- what is the true america?

we are in a debate about whether america should be modeled on the social democracies of europe, whether america should aspire to be liberrian utopia where we each go about pursuing our own names and the laws should be ju restricted to keep us from bumping into each other or violating each other's rights. this is a very big debate and this might be the context in which to address it. >> i would not rule it out of court, but it seems to me that there are always going to be large political differences tween, let's say, liberals and conservatives about which way the governmentrhich way america in particular should go on policy questions, or even on large revisions. and yet, there is a sense -- a larger this sincvisions.

and yet, there is a sense that within the context of shad beliefs, shared attachments -- i thinit would be better, at least for present purposes to try to think about what those things in kominar. recognizing that -- what those things in common are, recognizing that in the end we are working shoulder to shoulder to solve these problems. not expecting that there would be unanimous opinion about how to do those things. rather than get into the current policy debates, i would prefer if you would not mind, her to stay with -- >> not so much addressing the policy debates as the ideals, the ideals that we should be committed to. but it, let me try this. i think the basic american proposition, as expressed initially in the declaration of independence, and then is fleshed out in the constitution,

which is the establishment of institutions that we hope to effectuate the ideals put forth in the declaration. the basic principles of government that would respond to those ideas are principles of limited government, of liberty, of personal responsibily. they also, though, require a kind of public spiritedness, because it is a republican regime. self-government does mean that we need citizens who are concerned wh not only pursuing their individual aims, but also with pursuing something substantive by way of the common good. we can have all sorts of debate about what that requires as far as policy is concerned, how the pension system should be setp, how social security should b reformed and so forth and so on. but i think one problem is that if you have major threats to these ideals, like limited government, like personal

responsibility from the rejection by large segments, especially of the most influential people in the culture, especially the intellectual culture. you have reductions of the legitimacy of some of those ideals. this, i think, is why multi -- multiculturalism in its strong sense, the multiculturalism that rejects this illegitimate and unjust program of assimilation is a real threat. i think it is why cosmopolitanism, which holds triotism in contempt, is such a real threat. you find that strong will to culturist sentiment, the smopolitan as -- multi- culturalist sentiment and cosmopolitanist sentiment in the public schools. one of my children went to a very good private school and i

struggled valiantly to get him excused from a mandatory class in american studies because the sole text in a mandatory class in this very good private school in american studies was howard asim's history of the american people -- "history of the american people." i would not ohave objected to this being used if something had been said on the other side, but it was the sole text. and it seemed like indoctrination into anti- americanism. but that would be a problem that we would have to address in a very good suburban mariscal and all over the place in potus schools. it should give us great concern. >> -- very good suburban private schools and all over the place in public schools. it should give us great concern [inaudible] -- >> [inaudible]

i spent five years on the education committee in my son's school trying to introduce amican history before the nih grade. he had two courses on the inca. [laughter] i thought he would end up speaking inca. [laughter] it took me five years to introduce a course on american history. and i'm sure after i left they probably used zinn as a text. american is and is a rather quaint term. it was one that you -- americanism is a rather quaint term. it was one that you would use 100 years ago. it unfortunately was used by nasty people to destroy lives. we lose a perfectly reasonable word because of the badness of the history, the house un-

american committee, etc. to me, that is the equivalent of american exceptional some. it is our way of saying americanism as an "ism" what makes us different from europe? from rome? from greece? other democracies and industrial societies. i think what we are having is a discussion about american lism.tional an som >> there is nothi american about it. it is like the idea cosmopolitanism it is silly. >> for the same reason that esparanto is silly.

[laughter] >> ok, so you cannot have high- level conversations with a permit of language that simplifies everything. >> i think esparanza was an idea that you could transcend nationality surely with language. i find it amusing that this kind of nationalism that we have today, this idea that the u.n.'s diggs kerry is or a third of -- edicts carry an authority, or the human rights commission to decide what to do abroad or not is also silly. i think that is less of a problem than the divisions within our country where we are

being torn apart by this ethnic centricism. it is getting worse. >> there is unavoidably a contemporary political issue that is raised by this discuson, and it is the one that diana talked about at the outset, which was that roosevelt in the way that he is speaking is clearly talking about a country somewhat like imperial rome. in 1894, if i can try to read- give a fair reading of roosevelts mind, i think the year before he had stated that the united states was on the verge of becoming a very great and powerful nation, which, in fact, it did. and it became what we now call a super power. i think roosevelt understood that a country heading in that direction was going to need -- it was going to take a lot of

effort to sustain what ever would be necessary to maintain that status. we have had debates for a long time about whether that status is appropriate or not. but it is real. that is the way it is. after world war ii there was no denying that it was real. i think what roosevelt was talking about was the point that charles raised, which was how you and sustain the economic and spiritual and physical energy to keep america a great nation? and the reason this is a political issue -- and we are going to get partisan now -- is that we just had this much talked about article in the "new yorker" about the obama policy and the key in which is the final paragraph in which the writer is talking to the obama people and two ideas emerge. one is that the idea that

america declining while china arises. the spokesman said, this is also at odds with the john wayne expectation of what america is in the world, but it is necessary for shepherding us, through this phase. this is the antithesis of what teddy roosevelt was talking about, right? can it is implied in all of -- and it is implied in all of these other things that we are talking about that go into makingmerica strong. at this point, you have a school of thought that is aligned with the cosmopolitanism that bhord.elt so of hoardea he knew it would weaken us in the world. >> he refers to us as a federal republic more than once. to go back to harvey's statement cannot one of the things about america -- stake in connaught

one of the things about america is that we want to be -- not to go back to harvey's statement, one of the things about america is that we want to be self- governing. i do not know how self-governing is possible on cosmopolitan terms. in the cosmopolitan world, it seems to me we are back to rulers and subjects. the rulers might not be keen spirit we have different names for them, but they will be in places like belgium and the hague, and the rest of us will be subjects and we are expected to be happy if they make life for a soft and comfortable. roosevelt is not interested in soft and comfortable. he is interested in and a self- governing people and that means a federal -- federal republic. >> america does mean self- government. but america also means principle and it comes from the principle of equality men, one migh say. but america also means

something inarticular, a detachment. >> it has a history of culture and traditions. >> and that works against the universality of our principles. sometimes the principles have to combine. we have to work against the recommendation of it because we do not think it is just good for us critics a principals tell us -- just before us. our principles tell us that we have the right and give to practice self governments, but we've recommended to others. they can imitate us. it reveals the difficulty of a, kind of imperialism becausef the universal principle. we think that others should practice it, too. we do not just live our principles. we tell them to the rest of the world.

something like imperialism that america was on the edge of and teddy roevelt had a hand in, and it is a constant temptation. we have to show how it is that a self government can also be limited government, limited in its envisions as well as in its republicanism. >> it relies on the consent of those others. we can provide an example of self-government, but we cannot impose it because it is up to their consent to secure it for themselves. if you probably understand th original principles, there is no limitation on that kind of imposition on the world. >> and yet, ironically, we imposed it on the japanese and germans and it took. >> we have had trouble with the arabs. to my mind, you have to at some point in defining what it is say

that -- people are on the world continue to flock to these shores. they want to get into this country any and every way that they can. maybe a more simple way to address this question of what it is is to say, why are you coming here? why are you dying to get in? why are you doing anything to send yourhildren here? the answer becomes rather clear that people still greatly value the idea of freedom from oppression, and the idea of law and order and will law -- will of law. i think people love the idea of social stability without reference to tribalism. we talk about these hyphenated kids, but in terms of court and our politics, you get outside of some of the big cities and that is not the will of the day. that is not the way people order themselves in our society. and of course, aboard mobility.

those public hools, in addition to being vehicles for assimilating young people, really, it gives you the opportunity in an ideal sense to hibit merit ended the united states you can come here as a poor child. and if you exhibit merit through hard work and persistence, you can achieve. people mock the idea that anybody can become president, but it is true. if you look at not only former president, but barack obama. you can say, it is amazing that person became president of any country. it is inspiring. i think the part of this conversation, i regret that when political because it seems to me to take the teddy roosevelt documents out. we live in a different world than the world this document was written for. the expanse of the american military, or the way they have

intervened not only in iraq, but ghanistan, and the idea of terrorism coming year and we wouldave something to say abou events in libya and syria, this is way outside of what was being imagined in these ridings here. and the idea that we would have and other organizations in a global economic structure, to me, you guys seem to be harking back to days of yore. we can relish them, but i do not think he was talking about multinational coalition a agreement in some negative way. i do not think is relevant. >> can i just -- charles mentioned something that i think was especially interesting. we imposed what we are talking about on the japanese and germans, but that did not make

them americans. we did impose a great deal. it seems to me that what is exceptional about america still is that we are united by a set of principles instead of by race, creed, color, whatever. that is unique. that is our greatest accomplishment. and the next thing is which principles -- liberty, equality, rule of law to name a few of them -- derive from these documents. and that is about it. the rest we discovered for ourselves. but the single thing that is unique and exceptional is that we are united by a handful of principles instead of something else. >> putting these two comments together and formulating a question -- i do not think anybody on the panel was a nostalgic for teddy roosevelt's time. i do not think i heard any comments.

but there is an attempt to see whether some of the questions he raised are still questions for us, notwithstanding the large times.ences in the i was very struck by this phrase -- spirit, convictions, and purposes. intellectuals and profsors are very good on convictions and principles. harvey mansfield is goodn that and other things besides. he talks about spiritedness and other things. but it is a wonder in the present age with american power what it is, could we speak about american national psence? does it matter whether we have one? harvey mansfield suggest we not only practice liberty, but with diane's important qualification,

we advertise it and recommended to others because we believe it is good. i was going to ask the others if they thought that this was not imperials and, but a way of life and we encourage others to follow it. it makes sense for a mighty nation. what are you about? it also seems to make sense to asof the citizens, what is the guiding spirit as well as what abstract positions do you hold? haut jassim steeley -- it seems to me to be worth a few minutes on that. >> and we have to go back to when that nation was at its greatest risk, during the civil war. the question was whether the people who had lived to see the nation born would still be alive when it died. lincoln told us what our national purpose was. he said that what the war was about was whether government of the people, for the people, by the people -- in other words,

republican government -- would earth. from the orasco it was to show that despite the failures of republican vernment, and the temptation to believe that republican government was simply a nice idea that could never work and that it would be internally the fate of human beings to be ruled by accident enforce, that it was america's national purpose to show that it could >> that is fine. when you spoke about what americanism is, you referred to some of the same things, some of the principles that we hold dear and have held dear since the declaration of independence. but the question that i think is it implicitly raised by what dan was saying, as well as several other people including yourself is, there have been waves and waves of immigration, arguably more in the past four

decades than ever before from every rner of the globe. and unlike before, hyphenated americans do exist and they do seem to want to retain two different loyalties. even though they have to pdge that they will give of loyalty to one, they seem to recognize themselves as two. the question that i think leon was asking and i think we should ask more sharply -- to do we really live in difrent times? do we need a different answer to the question of what is the spirit, conviction, the purpose of america? >> i do not see how that changes anything. our fundamental problem todays that not immigrants from the ukraine will retain their loyalty to the ukraine. i do not see that as our problem. the question is when we educate,

when we form immigrants, who are children of nive-born citizens, what are we teaching them? are we teaching them what it is to be american? or be teaching them a different vision? that is the whole ball game. i think the whole class has largely taken one side on that, e howard zinn side. i do not personally think that is the right side to take. what i perceive as part of my own mission is to make the argument for the other side. >> i think that is not the case, robert, that you can a new -- ignored inequities in american life and try to say that we are engaged in propagandizing in order to indoctrite our young people to be more american. on the contrary -- and roosevelt spoke about this. he talked about people who would use our inequities to try to

belittle the united states, and even worse, to try to belittle the idea of america. that is not a goal. but you cannot speak to me and y that america is without flaws, america knows nothing of slavy, knows nothing of segregation. you cannot speak to a jewish person and say that america knows nothing about glass ceilings and actings if you are less than fully human. this is not true. to become a part of the quarry of america -- to me, part of the glory of america is that we work through these things and continue to aspire to these things that you spoke about in the declaration of independence, all men equal. and we really pursue it and we really hold each other to account in a very public way.

you can campaign, but you have to of knowledge that there are people living in poverty in a palatial, that there are black people who ar't -- in appalachia, that there about people who are not necessarily part of a constituency. this is still america. the people who do not acknowledges, who continue to lie about who they are or persuade people that there aren't a problems are lying. >> america's failures or an equities, they should not be glossed over or hidden. we want people to know them wholly. whether they are native-born or immigrant children. and it does include dark moments that we should be ashamed of. but you're also right that our our always them canno,

relate -- realizing them as part of the public schools. we have to tell the story of anti catholicism. there is a system of catholic schools because there were people who wanted to use the schools to strip catholic immigrants of their religion. that story has to be told, too. we have to relate to our young people the vision that our founders had and that they embodied in the declaration. >> we are moving into politics here. we can agree that we are united by principals instead of race.

we could make the list and three or four minutes, probably. we can agree that there are few characteristics. anything is possible. after that, i is up to the philosophers and professors and the debates to apply those principles and, with competing versions. -- and come up with competing versions. lincoln stated the principles build on those principles. our politics is mostly about nflicts among people based upon the same principles are dealing with the disappointments and not realizing the aspirations that all men are created equal that we all agree with.

>> we are going to move very soon to open it up for some questions. >> the historical context was interesting because in 1894 he was removed from the support experience and what he was looking back at was this long period of hegemony anbut you cannot say that he saw in any precise way that he saw two incredible episode of mass murder not only descend upon europe -- self-imposed, of course, but to completely shuffle the deck in favor of america. i have not read much else of roosevelt views on these

matters, but there are hints of him feeling strongly and sing, let's not be like europe. let's not be like europeans in a lot of different ways. and one can only guess that he felt part of it was not just our geographic isolation and the oceans, which protected america, and till the landscape -- tilted the landscape, but there was something about american principles and something about european principles. i answered that with robertson view -- robert's view that what we have today is not that different, and actually, today we have a powerful set of choices to continue to drift toward internationalism, in deference to foreign law, being

more like europe. it is more than whether this socialized this or that. is part of the principle of what has divided america, the self- reliance verses the collective role by elites, and the decisions made by the common man versus the opposite. >> two more comments. >> i will make nine brief. to the question of why it matters, part of the preamble as to form a more perfect union. i think it is worth our realizing that one of the most fundamental human needs is communion with one another. when we have, and union -- one we have common union with a friend, a spouse -- i have

common union with the people in here because it is 98% americans. that's more perfect union that the constitution speaks of makes my life better. the fact that politics enters into it, politics is how we order ourselves. i do not think it is a dirty thing to avoid. it is how we order ourselves. the issue of why it matters is because it goes to the fundamental need of human beings, and that is, this union with one another. when we have it, it is something that is almost transcendent. it is not material, but something we share in our hearts. it can be a very profound thing. i think what we all sense is that maybe some of that has been lost and we all miss it. >> i hesitate to open my mouth.

i think our national purpose should be to be proud salesman of the democracy, of our republic. we are getting salesman, we americans. but to be a salesman is not by itself a proud occupation. you are trying to suck up to your customer a little bit. that we should not do durinbut we should be proud of what we have done. -- that we should not do. but we should be proud of what we have done. we have been the first to make a republic that works. >> let's open it up to the audience. there are microphones down here. >> and please state your name and let's request that we have questions, comments if they are very brief. no long speeches, please, because there are also other people that want to get to the floor.

>> roger. i am the last surviving patriotic englishmen. [laughter] i wanted to say something to frank's original statement about patriotism to the village because i think this is something that has been slightly overlooked that may be the kind of patriotism that roosevelt is talking about is actually compatible with the patriotism of the village. i have been for the last six years living in rural virginia as a visiting anthropologist kind of -- [laughter] and my main observation was that this was a society that was totally constituted by volunteers. here we had a little village of 400 people, six churches, 40 little societies, volunteer rescue squad. everything was done by people oppose the initiative on the local level. issue to on the

local level. it this is the thing that seemed to me, at least, to renew those ideals. it is what we have lost in europe. but we do not actually have that soety of volunteers anymore. maybe the panel would want to talk to this, the extent to which american patriotism can exist without renewing things at the local level and getting to know your neighbors and doing things without interference from government. >> that is why i would say this definition of americanism is .lso political azimka it is an argument between the left and right. it is only when you have a government that limit ielf, a government witenumerated powers to my government that is not over pronounced itself in

action, a gernment that does not impose a requirement o getting an individual in contract with t company and paying a fine. it is only when you allow the space for the voluntary associations that you're talking about, and which tocque ville talked about, and it is the question of do we want to be like what we see in europe or more of the democracy that we have traditionally been? it is getting to the essence of americanism. we are different in that way because of our history, because we are a numberyounger country, and because we have this marvelous emergencef a

generaon of geniuses who gave us a gift. that, i think, more reaches almost a sacred level for the document it in history. the general principles would mean that we would be giving up something exceptional and unique, exactly as demonstrated in your example of a society that operates under voluntary association. it is not something that emerges out of virginia. it survives becausehe government knows and is required to step back. >> a question in the back.

>> one of the founding creed that we have not talked about is the freedom of religion. i think that people recognize that is an ement of americanism, if you're a core element, and yet we have very strong disagreements -- a very core element, and yet we have very strong disagreement about how that is applied. >> anyone on this subject? but i'm glad you brought that up. i think that is -- >> i'm glad yourought that up. i think it americanism was very and that was90's heresy to lead the 13th. 13th -- louis xiii.

there was a lot of nervousness about this at the vatican. it would not surprise me at all if roosevelt was addressing that. although, he also says there is ism lace for no-nothing in in his speech. he was very clear about the rigorous separation of church and state, which in those days off d had an anti-catholic under current -- often had an anti-catholic under current. there is tension there in itself. i would see religious freedom as tied to the declarati itself. >> would you say, however, -- never mind roosevelt. would you say americanism or its

equivalent today is or should be neutral with the distinction between religion and atheism? >> does it matter? >> i think it's -- i do not think it can be entirely because the nature of these views are ground and something transcendent of god or nature of god, whatever that means. human beings cannot get at them and -- the idea that human begs cnot get at them and metal with them is fundamental. -- meddle with them is fundamental high. >> i want to suggest that there is some overlap between what americanism is and what characteristics americans must have for our country to work.

fortunately for you all, in a column on line have listed what i thought those 10 characteristics wer i was hoping you could comment on them. just briefly, do not discourage anyone else's race or ethnicity. respect women. learn to speak english. be polite or civil. do not break the law. do not have children out of wedlock. it cannot demand anything because of your race or ethnicity. i do not view working o studying hard as [unintelligible] do not hold grudges. and be proud to be an american. >> the 10 commandments? [laughter] >> probably ever won in the room could ping back to their own immigrant -- everyone in the room could be think back to their own immigrant parents or grandparents or great- grandparents'.

of course, the african american case is different because of slavery, but think back to those immigrant grandparents. when i think of my own, the thing that strikes me so vividly -- and they are all gone now -- is their gratitude to this country. that was the key to their americanism, in a sense. opportunity and liberty. one said had come from southern italy for economic opportunity, not political reasons. the other set from the ottoman empire in for political reasons. they never learned to speak english very well. but they wanted their kids to be american. and in part because of their gratitude to this country. and i will tell you what they did not have. something that would be poisonous to gratitude, and that

is an attitude of entitlement. i think, if we comnicate to immigrants or anyone that the proper posture to take toward the country is n.m. -- is a posture of entitlements, that i am to be taking care of, that undermines the gratitude that is key to americans -- especially immigrant americans becoming true americans. that does not mean that we do not need a safety net. that does not mean we should not have a proper debate about where this hatred said in and where private initiative or voluntary -- where the state should step in and where private initiative or voluntary initiative should. i am not proposing the libertarian you to be in by any means. but i do think, that does not mean that we should drop into mdot into an attitude of and

how, because i think that just kills gratitude. -- an attitude of entitlement, because i think that just kills gratitude. >> the source of gratitude that i saw in my grandparents, who were second-generation american, you put that together and they constitute what we call the american dream. there's no other cntry, i think, onerous for whichhe word dream follows the name of the country. i have never heard of a french dream. well -- [laughter] i do not think i should have gone there. a russian dream, i suppose, yet another belgian this year. [laughter] americans understand opportunity and political liberty. why does everybody come here? it is precisely for that reason and again, it is unique to us.

democracy is unique in america. but that is what i think the essence is of what you call americanism and what we call american and factionalism. -- american exceptionalism. >> even if people did not come because they think that we have great institutions or political ideals, the experience that they have any opportunity they get to give to their children inspires them and enables people, even immigrants, to be proud when their children fight for the united states military, as so many immigrant children do. their parents are proud. they understand their children are abroad in harm's way fighting for their country, and it really is their country. even though they are immigrants, it is their country. >> my question goes to the

comment about civic institutions. it has been argued that capitalism and democracy are empty vessels into which we pour our values as a nation and that these values are best preserved in civic institutions. the question that i -- not in the content of our economy or the strength of our economy or the strength of o military, but the content of our civic institutions. why do we hear why do we hear so little about the civic institutions that preserve our values? >> you do not here in washington, but you do in communities. i really think it is the essence

of our country that we work community-by-community. as a speaker out here, has done anthropologist from great britain said, and our communities, the conversation as incessant about civic institutions, about churches and clubs and fire departments and organizations. that is a very distinguishing aspect of what we do and what we can do from here to create an environment in which that can sueed, which is limited government. >> this is alslimited to the american principle of this version of power versus the european principle of concentration of power. it does not just the state versus the federal government. it is private philanthropic power as well as civic institutions in the community. >> senator alexander, you talked

earlier -- you were tryg to stl this away from the debate about left and right. it is important or essential to the distinction of americans. the importance of the cyclical "ill institutions -- will institutions. the fact that we exceed it play out in europe in that way, an empirical example, a does not a theoretical argument, aid debate -- a debate and what makes you need exceptional and

so valuable has to included debate over the size and reach and scope of government because of its effect on these civic institutions which are so fundamental. >> yes. but i think that works out in our politics is that we have these principles, such as mited government and liberty stacked up on one side and someone might step up ual opportunity on the other side can make an argument within an american context to say that the government adds this program to create equal opportunities so that these people can get to the starting line. someone may be on the right side and someone may be on the left side with a larger program based on equal opportunity. but i think both americans are debating arguments based on american principles. >> i agree.

instead of arguing the mechanism you wouldrsonal left, can yo undermine the basic idea of political government is that, if you did that, that would undermine the entire idea of americanism. >> i precisely agree with that. that is precisely the way to have a political debate. i was trying to recognize the americanism of his argument. my emphasis would be on the two other principals. >> is not a mess -- is not a -- it is not the message of motive, but of consequence. >> at the very beginning, amy described the amide of american is of being philosophy and poetry. remarkably enough, we get the philosophy in common, but we're

not sure about the poetry. the phenomenon that you're talking about, with hyphenated names, his a sign that people see the poetry of their lives in those ethnic or religious attachments. so i am wondering where that poetry would come from. it seems to me that to strings or three things were laid out by the panel -- to build things are three things were laid up by the panel. we come from something that essentially would be our poetry, something that would have to ite all of us as americans. as harvey suggested, some is selling ourselves to other. that could be a common purpose. ron williams suggested somehow a common purpose is aspirational

or, to use arles's turn, a dream. what has been poetic about this is this aspiration to do best for ourselves, to improve ourselves, to live up to certain ideals and, sometimes, especially with someone like roosevelt, to take that to the world. my question is really what the panel thinks about the possibilities of those things as the source of poetry but also how they would work together. one is in working and one is out looking. looking and onerinward- outward-looking.

>> you can take the idea of a city upon a hill. since the dawn of a chin athens bridges since ancient athens, -- since the ancient athens, they have been building a model paired with a degree would agree that we have a good one. the congress of vienna -- the world has a terrible tendency, the world of nations has a terrible tendency to try to imple from time to time and disintegrate. when that happens, it is a veritable that horrifying situation. it is america's interest, i think, not to have nations elsewhere disintegrating and imploding as, indeed, they are imploding as, indeed, they are in par